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Saturday, September 5, 2009

Not to get all political on y'all but...we have two wars, a deep recession, and a lot of countries catching up to us competitively -- and our big concern is about whether the President suggests to our kids that staying in school is a good idea. Really? Seriously?What the fuck is wrong with us?

Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity called. They thank you for your support. Megadittos.

In other news, the pace at which developing countries are becoming the engines of economic growth in the world should alarm any American. A good part of this is due to their increased pace of innovation -- which is related to their focus on, you guessed it, education.

So I guess the thesis here is that Obama is going to pitch his policies at our unsuspecting youth and that that's somehow going to contribute to the decline of American society? Really? You believe this?

Turning this speech into a partisan issue is ridiculous. It was ridiculous when the Dems opposed Bush doing the exact same type of speech. And it's ridiculous now. (btw, when it was Bush, Rush and band of dittoheads thought it was a great idea).

Thank you Anonymice for your bravery in speaking out the greatest threat facing our country in our lifetime. If President Obama has his ways and our children stay in school, how the hell are they going to play video games and watch TV, all the things that make our country great?

This whole education racket has gone on long enough, if you ask me! I n ever learned nothing and I like it that way.

So true, thinking for themselves is such a waste of time when all they really need to do is listen to the anointed one, then they can grown up and become a Green Czar, call others assholes, drive a Flintstonemobile, and wash their clothes on a rock. So much easier.

First, confession: I wrote the original post + the response to A&A. I should not have posted anonymously in my response.

Now, on to the meat of the matter. The full text of the President's speech is available all over the Internet now. I read it at: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/09/07/obamas-long-awaited-back-to-school-speech/.

I'm curious -- can someone tell me what is objectionable about his message?

This time around I am honestly trying to control my knee jerk reactions in order to understand exactly what people object to about this event.

There seem to be two main concerns: the content of his speech, and the very fact that he is speaking to schoolchildren.Both concerns baffle me.

Every President in my living memory has addressed schoolkids at some point in his tenure, and I while I've heard people object to the message, I've never before heard anyone say that the President of the United States should not address students.

Some parents I know reply that they object to their child being "forced" to listen to Mr. Obama. Again, he's the PRESIDENT. Do we no longer respect the Office if not the man? I criticized Mr. Bush's policies and decisions, and even doubted his character and intelligence, but I did not doubt his right to make decisions, set policies, and address constituents (for our children are his constituents, even if they do not vote).

As for content of the speech, the objection is more understandable in principle -- we're all a bit cynical about politicians' desire for airtime -- but past Presidents' remarks were a lot less neutral than Mr. Obama's, and received far less criticism. I pulled up some of Reagan, Bush Sr and Clinton's remarks to and about public schools and schoolkids, and they all seemed to be addressed to parents and voters, not the kids.

When I bring this up, people snarl that Obama has an agenda, and that I am being naive or disingenuous.Of course he has an agenda. He has many agendas, political, social, economic, and no doubt personal. He's the President. It's his job. If he didn't have an agenda, he wouldn't have been elected. Neither would John McCain, Hillary Clinton, or any other candidate for President. I understand that many people object to his agendas, real and imagined, but the agendas they object to don't seem evident in this particular speech.

The strangest thing of all is that the people I've talked to who are objecting the loudest call themselves conservatives, but everything Obama said sounds like it was written by Reagan. As in, spending more money on schools won't help if the students don't take responsibility for themselves. A conservative sentiment I happen to agree with, and did so when Reagan said it, despite being an organically-dyed- in-the-cruelty-free-wool liberal. [I admit I am hopeful that Mr. Obama will not conclude, as Reagan did, that drastically slashing education budgets will impel students to take greater responsibility for themselves.]

The speech given had been reworded when people objected. I had planned to withhold my children from school that day if it had gone on as planned--with full support of said children, 15 & 11. I am incredibly pro-education but what was originally proposed was instructing the children on how best to serve this administration and how they could be good little Socialists. I am a conscientious objector in the quest to usurp my child's mind and my own sovereignty as a parent.That said, Fox News is one of the few places you can find real news anymore. You all notice that there is not much play for the ACORN scandal going on right now? That's just the tip of the iceberg as far as what is being put out (kept out) for public consumption by the main stream media. Think for yourself people--doesn't any of this make you just a little bit suspicious about what is going on? Transparent indeed.

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All whines become the property of Secret Spineless Whine for Amy & Marinka to use and/or reproduce for any purpose. Like a book. Or anything else that pops into their sick little minds. Didn't your father warn you to read the fine print first?